“Students from fee-paying schools far more likely to attend a handful of top Dublin-based universities, according to new figures that highlight the extent of the ‘class gap’ in higher education. Students from fee-paying schools account for between 25% and 30% of new undergraduates at Trinity and UCD in the current academic year …” (more)

“John Walshe, Columnist with The Irish Independent, Katriona O’Sullivan, Lecturer with the Turn to Teaching Project in Maynooth University, Shauna Dunlop, Director of Apprenticeship and Work Based Learning SOLAS and Anne Looney, Executive Dean in DCU Institute of Education, discuss the social divide among students going on to third level education …” (mp3)

“Click here to download the full 2018 Feeder School tables. Students from the most affluent parts of Dublin are up to 14 times more likely to progress to university than their counterparts from some schools in the city’s most disadvantaged areas, the annual Irish Times ‘Feeder Schools’ supplement shows …” (more)

“New figures show the extent of the ‘class gap’ in higher education with students from fee-paying schools far more likely to attend a handful of top Dublin-based universities. Students from fee-paying schools account for 20-25% of undergraduates at Trinity and UCD …” (more)

“The modern day Irish medical student is likely to be young, female, Dublin-based and from an affluent background. That is according to a Higher Education Authority study on the profile of medical students. The report provides a stark snapshot of who our future healthcare professionals will be and how lacking in diversity the student body is compared to many other sectors of society …” (more)

“In truth, such a historic and prestigious school as Trinity was always going to have an image as a classist institution, based solely on the fact that, until very recently in its history, only a small percentage of society have been able to afford a college education. The most obvious result of this is that it shaped the connotations that people, mostly rural in background, have of Trinity and universities as a whole …” (more)

“Can university degrees be accelerated? This is the question a recent government consultation seeks to answer. Steven Jones writes that, mathematically, three years of learning could indeed be compressed into two. But he explains why the option would be viewed very differently across social classes, and why it is not a good idea …” (more)

“The social class divide that has been persistent in the Irish education system has impacted on the abilities of students from the lower socioeconomic groups progressing to third level education. The Irish government has introduced multiple policies that aim to tackle these inequalities …” (more)

“When I was in Montessori school, my teacher sold me the ‘Disney’ line that I could be whatever I wanted to be and I believed her. I went home and did some digging in the back garden with my dad and decided I was going to do that for a living because it was fun …” (more)

“Sir, – Further to ‘New figures expose class divide in higher education’ (February 7th), if institutes of technology have a higher proportion of their students qualifying for grants, surely this should be celebrated as evidence that the institutes of technology have opened up opportunities to less-favoured regions and social groups. Instead we have the complaint that the universities are relatively elitist …” (more)

“This is news? ‘An Irish Times analysis on the proportion of students on grants across the higher and further education sector last year contains some revealing findings. It shows a striking class divide, with students from better-off families far more likely to occupy places at the country’s top universities …'” (more)

“Up to three-quarters of students in some of the State’s colleges are reliant on grant support, according to new figures that highlight the scale of the class divide in Irish higher education. School-leavers from more affluent backgrounds are much more likely to have places in universities offering high-points degrees …” (more)

“In a poll last year conducted by the Trinity identity Initiative, 72% of Irish people said they regarded Trinity as ‘snobbish’. This led me to the question: do we fulfill the traditional Trinity stereotype still much held by Irish society? …” (more)

“The social class of a school is a greater determinant of whether a Leaving Cert student will go to college than his or her family background, a study has revealed. The ESRI (Economic and Social Research Institute) report highlights the importance of creating ‘a culture of high expectations’ in all schools, as well as a ‘whole-school approach to guidance’ …” (more)

“Financial hardship among students has increased in the last four years and is a factor in college drop outs, suggests a report from the Higher Education Authority. Drop-out rates from some lower socio-economic groups has increased while students from farming and professional families were least likely to drop out …” (more)

“Equal access data from the Higher Education Authority has shown that third level entrants from the top three socio-economic backgrounds continue to increase, with those from less wealthy background dropping off …” (more)